


Falling Snow is always Silent

by KMO27



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ableism, Angst and Feels, Avengers Tower, Changing POV, Character is a sweetheart, Character is short, Disabled Character, Discrimination, Enhanced Reader, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hydra (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Infinity War never happened, Kidnapping, Mute Reader, New York City, PTSD, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-HYDRA Reveal, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reader Has A Name, Reader Needs a Hug, Self-Harm, Sign Language, Slow Burn, Snow, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, Touch-Starved, because I was stupid and forgot about the compound, friday - Freeform, hydra is a bitch, mention of rape, though she acts tough, three legged cat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-06-14 09:32:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15385863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KMO27/pseuds/KMO27
Summary: Elaine Walker lived a simple life working as a school librarian in Brooklyn, New York. Two things about her prevent her from living like everyone else. One, she cannot speak, and can only communicate through signing. This causes a rift between her and most people in Brooklyn, though she was content with that. Second is she was born enhanced. She doesn't know why or how; all she does know is that is makes her a target for some recently unearth Nazi terrorist group. One night, her fears are confirmed as she is dragged to who knows where and is an experiment for who knows what.Meanwhile, Steve Rogers and the rest of the Avengers are trying to end HYDRA's stream of kidnappings of enhanced civilians and children. None of them know what their plans are. The only thing Steve knows is that bodies are showing up with signs of experimentation. He is sick of HYDRA always being two steps ahead of them. Maybe this time they'll be ahead; this time he'll save someone.





	1. Paranoia and Cat vomit

**Author's Note:**

> Code:  
> Thoughts are Italicized  
> Signing is Bolded  
> 

It’s hard to prepare southern tourists when they visit the Big Apple during the winter. They believe a few extra sweatshirts and fuzzy socks will be enough to shield off the freezing tantra for the New Years Eve ball drop. The number of frostbite and pneumonia patients skyrockets every year anywhere from early September to late May.  This was never a problem for Elaine; even with her thin cardigan as the only source of protection from the impending windshield.

She had just locked up the school’s library for the evening and was ready to make her way to her nearby apartment.  Running a high school library was not to the most nerve wracking job in the world, but today, some dumbass freshman had the bright idea to print over two hundred nude photos of his ex and was planning to plaster the school with them as a joke; too bad he forgot about them and Elaine had to fix a paper jam. 

_ What the fuck is wrong with kids these days? _

Elaine never really wanted to work with kids, but it was the only job that would hire her. The library turned out to be an ideal place for a mute; no one talks. She sighed as she made her way into the brisk Brooklyn streets. Her cheeks flushed and her breath crystalized but the frost was welcoming to Elaine after the stuffiness inside. 

The streets were modestly quiet. It wasn’t too late that all the shops were closed, but due to the incoming snowfall, most stayed inside. Elaine could hear young laughter and screams. She turned the corner and saw some kids having a snowball fight in the street. They were playing dirty; shoving fresh ground snow down each others’ fronts and smacking bullets in the face. A little boy fell on some black ice as Elaine passed and a black convertible swerved the corner carrying a driver, babbling away into a device.

It all happened so fast. Elaine didn’t wait for the kid to move on his own. Snow started to fall so fast it left most people visually impaired. When it cleared, the convertible was in a snowbank. The kids all came to stare at the angry man as he called for a tow.

The boy in the road look dumbfounded, “What the hell was that?”

“You hurt, mister?” one of the kids called out.

“Was that snow bank aways there?” a girl asked.

“The plows must’ve made it.”

“In the middle of the road?”

“Must’ve. What do you think it just fell from the sky, a-hole?”

“Mommy said you couldn’t call me that!”

She left the children to their bickering.

There were no denying she was different. Well, different was putting it lightly; more like a mutant freak. Most people might think it’d be cool to have “super powers” but now...something had been going on for a while. Ever since the fall of SHIELD and the unearthing of some Nazi terrorist group, people like Elaine had gone missing. She didn’t need to be a spy to figure that out. The missing person reports have exploded on news media and worst was she knew some of those who disappeared. There used to be four others like her in Brooklyn but they all disappeared in the last year.

She knew it was dangerous to use her Elsa-like powers but…

_ What was I going to do? Let the poor kid die?? _

Feeling paranoid, Elaine felt herself looking over her shoulder. That was the first time she had done something in public for months. She was scared she would be the next to vanish. She unlocked her apartment, looked around, and almost screamed when her cat, Sammy rammed into her shim.

_ Get it together, girl. There’s nothing a little How I met your mother can’t fix. _

Elaine spent her evening doing just that. Her grey tomcat rested on her lap, purring contently.

 

The next day Elaine had almost forgotten the incident altogether. As she walked into work the following morning, Elaine saw a man in a suit talking to her coworker.

“I’m sure she’ll be here any min- Elaine! There you are.”

Elaine gave her a look before giving her attention to the man.

“Ms. Walker, could I take a moment of your time?”

She nodded and gestured for him to follow Elaine into her office. The man closed the door behind himself. This caused Elaine to tense up but she shrugged it off as she sat down, sipping her morning coffee. The man looked to be in his mind forties with salt and pepper hair and an impressive mustache.

The man looked around the office, “Is this room bugged?”

Elaine shook her head no.

The man sighed with relief but didn’t relax, “Look, Ms. Walker, I will be frank with you: I know you’re enhanced.”

Elaine went rigged in her seat and gently put her mug down before she could drop it.  She nodded for him to go on.

“My name is Agent Marcus. I am a former SHIELD agent who is currently working for the Avengers. I am here because you might be in danger.”

He stopped talking at that to give Elaine a chance to speak. When she didn’t, Marcus continues, “An organization known as HYDRA has been kidnapping enhanced people off the streets. They have taken over fifty people in the past few years; several have been found dead on the side of the road.”

He gave her a mom ent to let that sink in. As Elaine was already aware of this, it didn’t take long. She gestured for him to proceed.

“Well, we believe you may be the next target.”

She grabbed a notebook and pen from the desk drawer. Elaine figured this man wouldn’t understand sign language. As she wrote, Marcus cleared his throat, “Ms. Walker?”

Once she was done, Elaine handed him the notebook. Marcus took it and read, then he looked at her, startled, “You’re…”

**Mute,** she signed. 

He didn’t seem to understand so Elaine wrote it down. 

“...I see,” Marcus looked like he was thinking, “I've decided, I will have agents at your place ‘round the clock.”

Elaine stood up at once and began signing, forgetting this man had no idea what she was saying.

Marcus raised his hands, “I know you’re upset Ma’am but this is my decision and it’s final.

She furrowed her brows and dropped her jaw,  **Excuse me?! I have been taking care of myself far longer than-**

“Enough, Ms. Walker. This is no up for debate.”

 

Elaine slammed the door behind her, scaring her poor cat. She could hear the little bell on his collar ring as he jumped back.

**Oh! I’m sorry, Sammy.**

The grey feline merely glared at her twitching his tail, and padded away with a dignified sniff. Just like normal people, she still talked to her cat even though it was clear he didn’t completely understand.

**Sammy! Don’t be like that,** she patted at her lap. After a few minutes, the grumpy cat jumped up on her. Elaine lived alone and didn’t really have any friends; therefore she had become reluctant to have Sammy as her wine buddy. While the tomcat ate his supper, she swirled her second glass in her hand.

**Fuck the stupid CIA...or was it FBI. I don’t care, just fuck somebody.**

She didn’t say the Avengers because, frankly, she had nothing against the original people who had saved her city six years ago. Elaine had no idea the organization extended to agents till now and was hesitant to denounce her city’s heroes.

Still, she vented on,  **They’re treating me like a goddamn kid. It’s ridiculous. I don’t need them watching me like a baby monitor.**

Sammy’s reply was to hack up a hairball.

_ Pleasant. _

 


	2. Time as a Nazi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:   
> Mention of rape and torture

Elaine was brought out of her dreamless sleep from the sound of broken glass, sitting up straight and alert. She crawled out of bed wearing only panties and an oversized t-shirt. She tipped toed and pressed her ear to the door. 

It could’ve been Sammy just messing around, but something was off. Elaine had a hunch there was something more going on. She could hear footsteps. There was no window to climb out of so Elaine knew she may have to fight her way out, causing her adrenaline to rise. 

In preparation for what was to come, Elaine willed the temperature in the air to suddenly drop until her breath became visible. She slowly opened the door and peeked out. The light from the opened front door glistened off of metal and plastic weapons in the hands of men in swat gear. 

Elaine couldn’t tell if they were Marcus’s or HYDRAs. One of the men’s eyes made contact with her's and placed a finger to his lips. She nodded to show understanding. 

Suddenly, the barks of bullets bounced through the air that lit up the room. Elaine jerked away from the door. She knew that the door was too thin to stop a stray bullet but if she put up extra defence she would be trapped in her. 

_ Fuck. _

Before she was even done thinking, the sounds and lights went out. She decided to make a run for it. Her apartment was small and her bedroom wasn’t even ten feet from the front door. After another minute she opened to door to find one of the swat men leaning against her couch, bleeding. Without thinking, she ran over to him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“What the fuck do you think your doing!?” he hissed.

Lights flashed and sound banged as Elaine dragged the man out the front. She helped him hobble to the end of the hall before setting him down. She shushed him before rushing back into the apartment. She couldn’t let these men die for her. Turns out, Elaine didn’t need to go back as three men were already following her. 

_ Shit. _

Elaine backtracked to the stairwell and started heading down. She froze the stairs behind her into sheets of ice before leaving. She hears the sound of thuds and foreign swears. Her breathing became more uneven as she heard one getting closer but dared not look back.

She was so close to the door when a hand grabbed onto her long, curly hair. She let out a yelp as he grasped onto her arm, pulling her in. Elaine looked and saw his wrist was bare so her grabbed onto it and watched as it quickly changed from pink to blue to black and the man let out a scream. She spun around and kneed him to the balls for good measure before fleeing.

However, when she opened the door, she saw only a hand with a cloth shoving her against the wall, pressing the cloth to her mouth. Elaine knew it was chloroform and tried to hold her breath as she searched for a bit of bare skin to produce frostbite, but the man was completely covered. She trying to create an icicle from the wall behind her to spear the guy but he caught wind on what she was doing was punched her in the gut. This forced her to take in a breath and then everything slowing faded to black.

 

Elaine was woken up by her head being shoved into a bucket of ice water. The cold wasn’t what bothered her; it was the inhale of water. They pulled her out as she choked. When she finally came to, Elaine saw she was in a sterilized hospital room and wearing one of their gowns. 

Two men seized her about strapped her down to a chair as she struggled against their strength. She saw that they were completely covered up; they must have learned from the mistake of that one soldier. Once she were strapped in, she saw that even the doctor was completely covered; though with different gear. 

The doctor started speaking in another language. Elaine guessed it was Russian or Turkish. The doctor stabbed a needle into her arm, causing her to wince in pain. It only became worse once he started to draw blood. It wouldn’t have been that bad it the drawing didn’t take so much. Elaine was a blood donor, so she knew it only took eight to ten minutes to take a pint; however, they were taking much more in the course of thirty minutes.

When the doctor was done, he said something to one of the soldiers. The soldier then undid the straps. She tried to put up a fight but Elaine was so weak from the blood loss. The soldier threw her over one shoulder and brought her into an enclosed, concrete room. He roughly tossed her on the ground which resulting in her crying. She barely had the strength to cry though. 

_ Come on, Elaine. Enough being sorry. You have to find a way out of here. _

She crawled over to the wall to lean against it. She saw only a small, barred window ten feet up. There was no way to reach it. The only other thing in the room was a small, worn mattress.  There was no way out.

Elaine tried to think of something but she couldn’t concentrate: her head felt light, her body like mush, and her sight was blurry.  She decided she needed to rest and regain her strength into order to escape. She crawling over and flopped down on the mattress before dozing off immediately. 

  
  


 

Elaine didn’t know how much time had past. All she knew was there was no hope of getting out. She was managed to freeze the doors lock off once but all that got her was a shiner. She prayed that Marcus’s people may have followed her trail but the hope was dwindling away each day. Afterall, Marcus never clarified if his men went after missing people.

Every day was the almost exactly the same at first. One day there’d be blood drawn; the next they’d insert some sort of unknown liquid into her body that caused to the burn. They did a couple surgeries on her: one was on her hip and the other was in her uterus. Both times were without anesthesia. She couldn’t stop screaming. Elaine spent many hours crying in the nights following them because of the pain. 

One week, they didn’t do anything what so ever. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her poor condition or if they had moved and had left her to rot. Her questions were made clear the week after when they started to use her for combat. 

In truth, Elaine had had no prior experience with combat outside of a few self-defense classes. She had always relied on her powers to get her out of a situation, and the biggest threat she’d face before this was a thug trying to steal her purse one night; not against a dozen highly trained Nazis.

The men beat the shit out of her for most of the week. She had trouble breathing, limped on one leg, and was beaten black and blue. She also had burn marks on either side of her neck from a shock collar that went off if she tried to use her powers. 

Most of the time they tried to have her fight a soldier. As she began to progress, or at least no longer get knocked out, they had her fight different types of people; some were large, bulky men, some were lean women, and sometimes it was more than one person

Usually, she did was she was told, merely because it was less of a punishment. Other times, Elaine just took what she was given. One time, they wanted her to fight this thirteen year old girl. She had refused and was thiry punished. She thought it would be like normal where she’d just be beaten up again because what did she have to lose?

Turns out she did have something to lose; her dignity. All the soldiers gathered up and men ripped off her thin shirt, shorts, and panties. Elaine had screamed and trying to hunker down to hide her exposed breast and womanhood, her curls spilling around her like water. Then the men did what they wanted. One simply cut off her hair. Another took off his belt and thrashed her back mercilessly. Most took turns fulfilling their disgusting sexual fantasies. By the end, all she could focus on was the musky smell in the air, the bitter taste in her mouth, and the warm, white semen pooling in between her legs. There are no words to describe how humiliating that was. For once, she was glad she couldn’t talk because she had no words to describe how she felt. She wanted to die.

When she stopped eating they put a feeding tube down her throat. When she stopped fighting, they took away her clothes again until she was forced to fight back. One thing that did stop that they did seem to like was her disobedience. Elaine did what she was told like a good soldier should be...until today:

They screamed at her to do it. Elaine knew what would happen if she disobeyed but looked into the terrified eyes of the little boy, tied up in front of her, she didn’t know if she could. A gun was in her trembling hands pointed at the forehead of this small child.

Again they shouted at her. She still didn’t know Russian but she knew what they were saying: Do it or else. 

...but at that moment it didn’t matter. She would not kill a kid. 

Elaine swirled around and fired at your handler. She knew she was dead after that so she rested to cool metal on the side of her head.

Suddenly, there was a humongous explosion that knocked her back. Thinking back to it, she was surprised the gun didn’t discharge. However, Elaine's mind was on the kid. She raced over to him just before the fighting started and untied his ropes. She pulled him behind the rubble and covered his head.

Eliane shushed the poor child and rocked him back and forth while suppressing her own anxieties. She had no idea what was going on but she was sure that if their handler found them, they’d both be dead.

She peeked over to see what was going on and see a group of men in swat uniforms led by three individuals. One was a red-headed woman in black leather, a long haired brunette with a fucking metal arm, and a guy with shield wearing red, white, and blue…

_ Wait, why does that sound familiar? _

The screaming voice of her handler brought her back into focus. He was screaming so much she was surprised he didn’t turn purple and start frothing at the mouth. When Elaine didn’t respond, he hit her head with the butt of his gun then cocked it. She tried to shield the boy with her body. 

Suddenly, there was a metal pang, crack of a gun, and a thud; however, she was too distracted to notice the thud as her shoulder felt like it burst into flames. The boy slipped from her grip as she fell but someone caught her before she hit the floor.  Her anxiety broke through the floodgates.

“Hey, hey. Ma’am, everything's gonna be okay,” a baritone hushed her hyperventilating, “C’mon, talk to me. What’s your name?”

Elaine tried to finger spell but your strength was leaving her. For once in her life, she felt cold. She saw the man was saying something but she couldn’t hear anything except a ringing in her ear. Then everything went black.

 


	3. Found in a Back ally

****

“Hey, hey. Ma’am, everything's gonna be okay,” Steve tried to calm the injured woman in arms. She was hyperventilating, hazel eyes widened with fright, and grasping at nothing. The pool of blood around him was getting too wide from his comfort. He needed to make sure she didn’t slip into shock.

“C’mon, talk to me. What’s your name?”

The poor girl lifted her hand and started to form signs of some sort before it inevitably dropped. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp in his arms.

“Shit,” he hissed. He called for one of the medics that had come on the mission with the strike team. With the HYDRA agents taken out, they were cleared to take care of the girl. The medics carried her away while Steve turned to the boy and spoke in a gentle tone, “Hey, buddy. You doin’ alright?”

The kid shook his head, lip trembling, “Y-yes, sir.”

“Good, good. What’s your name, kid?”

“A-Alex.”

Steve smile, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Alex. I’m Captain America.”

Alex gasped, “Are you here to beat up bad guys?”

Steve laughed, “Yes, Alex, and I’m here to take you away from the bad guys.”

“Is my mommy here?”

“No, but how ‘bout I take you to see your Ma?” Steve offered his hand and Alex turn it.  He led the boy away from the horrors of the HYDRA base and to the Quinjet. Natasha must’ve gotten the data she was looking for since she was already there. Bucky was the last to arrive.

“Who’s the kid?”

“Nat, Buck, this is Alex. He was one of the kids kidnapped from school last week. Did you find any more civilians?”

Bucky placed his gun down on a table and looked from him to the kid; Steve’s heart sank. He knew this wouldn’t be good news.

“Hey, Alex, why don’t we-”

“Whoa! Your Black Window! You’re my kid sister’s favorite,” then he looked at Buck, speaking with much less enthusiasm, “Who the heck are you?”

Natasha held back a snicker while Bucky sighed. Steve took Alex to the medics and have them clean the scrapes and bruises on him. When he came back, Bucky delivered the morbid news, “All ten civilians were killed before we could get to them. Someone must’ve tipped them off we were comin’. At least you got the girl and the kid out.”

“Hopefully she lives,” Steve leaned back in his seat and rubbed his forehead. They had been too late, “Were we able to figure out what the hell HYDRA’s been up to with the kidnapping?”

“Give me a second, ladies,” Natasha huffed as she was busy decoding, “This is the first solid piece of evidence we’ve gotten. I’ll get what I can but I’m sure Tony would be able to do a better job decoding.”

“Maybe the kid and the girl can add something,” Bucky added, “They are the first two to come back alive.”

“We can ask the kid now but once we touch down, he’s going back to his parents,” Steve’s tone was final.

 

The boy was brought back into the room. His elbows and knees had bandages and given an ice pack for the bruise on his cheek. 

“Hey, Alex, how are you feeling?”

The kid gave his first smile. One of his front teeth were missy, “Much better, Mr. American.”

Steve smiled, “Did the doc give you a lollipop?”

He nodded and pulled out a wrapped tootsies pop, “Yeah, it’s cherry.”

Steve tried not to laugh; he loved kids. It was a little hard to smile though seeing that dark bruise near his brown eyes, “That’s great. So, Alex, do you know what happened on Friday?”

The kid’s smile faded, “Yeah. I was on the bus and there was a substitute bus driver. He wasn’t going the normal way and took up to this place with lots of trees. Then some guys came on the bus and was yelling at us. I didn’t know what they were saying but they took us to this big house in the woods and then...I don’t remember.”

Steve leaned closer, “Do you know how you got to the place we were just at?”

“No, but they had me bleed a lot into bags. I was very dizzy and hunger.”

“Steve, we’re landing,” Natasha called.

Steve nodded, “Why don’t we go find your Ma.”

 

As they land, there was a middle age woman waiting with an agent. She screamed when she saw her son, “MY BABY! MY POOR BABY!” she made Alex look at her red, puffy eyes, “I am driving and picking you up from school from now on!”

“Ah, but mom-”

“NO buts,” her tone softened to a cry as she dragged her son into a fierce hug and looked up at Steve, “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“No problem, Ma’am.”

The women and her child were escorted out the agent while the medics took to the woman away. Steve asks one of them for a report.

“She’s malnourished and badly beaten. She’s got three fractured ribs and damage to her tibia. It looks like she was low on blood even before getting shot.”

Steve frowned, “Is she going to make it?”

The medic winced, “Hard to say right now. We couldn’t tell if there’s any internal damage yet.

Steve nodded in acknowledgment. He needed her to survive; not only for inside information on HYDRA but because those hazel eyes would haunt his nightmares.

His face must’ve looked grave because Natasha nudged him and offered drinks, “Just let me get this data to Tony during the debriefing then we can get shitfaced.

“I can’t get shitfaced,” he said deadpanned.

“Well, you can enjoy the hilarity which is drunk Natasha.”

 

Natasha whined, “You haven’t even touched your drink.”

Which wasn’t entirely true. Steve had taken of few sips of his beer, but he just wasn’t in the mood. He was beginning to regret not taken up Bucky’s offer to work out instead. That would’ve been a better way to vent his frustration at the mostly failed mission. 

“Come on, Steve. Stop moping,”

“I'm not moping.”

Natasha quirked a red eyebrow, “Would you prefer the term ‘brooding’?”

He took a swig of his beer, ignoring her.

“Steve, you know you can’t win them all. You can’t save everyone.”

As much as Steve wanted to admire Natasha for her level-headed persona, he knew it was also the reason they couldn't see things eye to eye all the time. Natasha was trained to be a ruthless assassin; her missions were mostly lethal or retrieval. Steve’s whole reason for joining the army almost eighty years ago was to save lives.

“Who were the victims?”

Natasha grimaced, “Steve, you don’t want to kno-”

“Who were they?” his voice was cold, not looking at her.

He heard a sigh, “There were ten victims. Four of them were the missing enhanced civilians; ages ranging to mid thirties too late adolescence. The rest were identified as the children missing from the school in Springfield; age ranging from ten to a four year old.”

_ Four years old. _

That seemed to echo in his head, “How long were they dead for?”

“Their bodys were cold and pale. My guess; a day or two.”

Steve had to make an effort not to break the glass bottle as he gritted his teeth, “We knew about that location for a week. A. fucking. week. And we did nothing.”

Steve usually wasn’t this emotional. He knew that casualties were a part of every mission. What he could not stand for was the mutilation of children. 

“Hey, there’s still fifteen kids not accounted for. They may still be alive. What I saw from the data were at least three other hideouts. Tony may be able to find and locate more.

Steve didn’t say anything. He merely finished his beer, paid the bartender, and walked back to the tower. He felt like being alone.

 

It was lightly snowing as he left the bar. The air was crisp and his ears and nose turned red almost instantly.  Steve shoved his hands into his pockets and enjoyed the scenery. 

Most Northerns grow to hate the snow; seeing it as a nussense that won’t leave and just creates black ice and more potholes. However, he always thought New York looked prettier covered in the white blanket. 

It was dark now and the street lamps made the snow glow a warm yellow and orange. As he walked by an ally, Steve hear something crash. He jerked his head towards the alley, stance ready for a fight. There were scratching noises followed by a strange cry.

_ Is that a cat? _

It just kept crying and meowing. Steve went over and looked inside a metal trash can. It was a huge, grey cat. Steve had seen smaller dogs. It look like it had lost a lot of wieght during a short amount of time. He could see it was stuck so he slowly turned the can over. The cat crawled out towards him. 

Steve notice something was wrong immediately. The cat dragged one of its front legs around and the fur on that side was covered in what looked like dried blood. The cat limped over to Steve and started nuzzling his shin. He knew he couldn’t leave this poor creature alone and figured that he could see if Bruce or a vet for look at it.

“C’mon little fella,” Steve crouched down and picked it up. It gave a little cry of pain but didn’t become frantic; instead, it became comfortable in his arms. He saw there was a loose red collar around its neck with a silver bell and a name tag. It read:

_ Sammy _

_ 1267 Austen Rd. Apt. 4D _

_ Brooklyn, NY 11216 _

_ (718) 658 7443 _

The address sounded a little familiar, but he shrugged it off. It was too late to go over to that side of town at this hour but he figured it be nice to give them a call to let the owner know. Steve called the number and it said the number had been disconnected.

“Huh, that’s weird,” he looked at the phone then to the cat, “Guess you’re staying with me tonight, Sammy.”

The car just sneezed.

 

“You have GOT to be kidding me,” Tony had his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face, “I should have known your were one of those person, Mr. Perfect.”

Steve was confused, “Uh, what?”

Tony massaged his forehead before pointing at the cat, “You saw a cute animal on the side of the road and went all “Awww it’s a cute little fluffkinz!” and thought it would be a great idea to infest the tower with animal sidekicks.”

Steve sighed, “I’m not going to keep him. I’ll drive by the owner’s place tomorrow.”

“Steve, that thing most likely have fleas. Get it out of here.”

“He’s wounded and probably hasn’t eaten in days,” he brought the cat up so Tony had to look at it in the face, “C’me, Tony. Have a heart.”

Tony nudged the cat away from his face, “Fine, but it stays in your room.”

  
  


The next morning, after his early run with Sam, Steve rode his motorcycle to Brooklyn with the cat in his backpack with a little opening for air. It didn’t take long to find the apartment complex. Once he reached the correct floor, it started to look familiar again. It wasn’t until he got to the room til he realized why. 

The door had been broken down and the window cracked. There were bullet holes and burn mark on the door and the nearby wall. Caution tape blocked off the entrance. He had seen this in a photo of one of the break-ins and kidnappings of one of the enhanced. 

“Well, shit.”

Steve had no idea what to do with the cat now. He figured the vet would be the best next place to go. On the way, he figured he could look up who lived there through Tony’s files and figure out if they were still alive. The only problem was he’d had a shit time figuring out Tony’s computer.

When he got to the vet, they said that the cat had been shot in the leg and because it was so infected it would have to go. He left Sammy there so he could have the surgery done. The veterinarian said to come by the next day.

 


	4. Tony's wrath on cats

Once Steve reached the tower, he went straight to Tony about the decoding.

“Dammit, Cap, not all of us get up at the crack of dawn,” Tony rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sipped his coffee.

Steve just stood there, arms folded and tapped his foot.

“Alright, alright,” Tony turned to the computer and typed frantically on the keys, “I was decrypting and translating it to English all last night. Let’s see here…”

Steve gave him a minute to read, “Well?”

“Ugh,” Tony sighed in defeat, “The data comprises of hematology and genetic data. I’m going to have to turn these over to Banner. He’s the bioscientist; not me.”’

“Dammit,” Steve hissed.

“Look, dude,” Tony raised his hands, “You know tech is my forte, not bio. It’ll take me twice as long to understand what I’m even looking at.”

“We don’t have time to be playing hot potato with this, Tony. Kids’ lives are on the line.”

Tony frowned, “When was the last time you took a break?”

Steve blinked, “What?”

“When was the last time you took a break? You’ve been wearing the Captain persona twenty-four seven around here ever since the kidnappings. I know you’re freaking out more since kids were brought into this but people are starting to get worried. You need to relax.”

“I did last night. I had a drink with Nat.”

“And according to her, you were brooding like Batman. Seriously, Steve; as your friend, I am begging you to wind down. Go out and do something! Read a book. Bake. Get laid. I don’t care, just something.”

Steve nodded. He knew he was getting a little obsessed with his mission, but what could he stay: he was a sore loser.

“I’ll tell you when Banner and I have found something, okay?”

“Alright,” Steve went to leave, “Oh, one more thing?”

“Shoot.”

“Can you find out who lives at this address and if they're alive?”

Tony looked at Steve like he had three heads but agreed.

 

Even with Tony’s advice to step away from this mission, Steve still wanted to see if the girl was alright before attempting to relax. He headed towards the medical bay and saw the girl in one of the glass rooms attached to oxygen and an IV.

“She’s just unconscious, Captain Rogers,” one of the nurses looked up from her clipboard and smiled politely. Her name tag read Gabriel Ramirez. She spoke with a slight Spanish accent, “We were able to stop the bleeding and substitute the amount she lost with blood gained from donations.”

Steve sighed in relief. That was the first bit of good news he heard all day, “So she’s going to be alright?”

Ramirez  looked like she was choosing her words carefully, “We’ll have to see when she wakes up.”

“What do you mean?”

Ramirez looked from Steve to the girl, “It depends on how much trauma she went through. She suffered quite a hard blow to the head before she passed out and...she suffered. I know you need her for information but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish she has amnesia or repressed memories.”

Steve thought about it for a minute before asking, “Can you tell me what happened to her?”

He knew he had to find out. Steve was the type of soldier who forced himself to look and memorize each of the faces of people he’s let die; whether he did this to honor the victims or because he was a fucking masochist, Steve didn’t know.

Ramirez pulled out a document, attached it to the clipboard, and looked at the girl, “I can tell you some of what happened; other parts, I will leave confidential. You’re the leader of this mission and by god, you need to know what these sons of bitches are doing to their victims. I will need you signed a disclosure form,” she handed the clipboard to Steve. He sighed and pasted it back.

“The average person needs about two thousand calories a day. Based off her weight from her last physical and the time she went missing, I’d say they gave her less than five hundred calories daily. She was beaten daily on the account of dozens of bruises and breakage of the skin. She had trouble breathing from three fracture rips and was forced to walk on a damaged tibia. Burn marks were left on her wrists, ankles, and neck. She arrived with a shock collar on like a dog.”

Steve looked at the girl and could see two points of the broken skin by her neck, confirm what the nurse was saying. He looked at Ramirez  and saw her looking at the floor, “And they did even worse forms of torment to her.”

Steve felted his twist uncomfortably. He looked at the girl; she looked like she was still in her mid-twenties. As a man reaching a century old, all he could think of is how young she looked in her current vulnerable state. He remembered looking at an ID photo of her and thinking how beautiful she looked with her dark complexion, long curls, and youthful plumpness of her cheeks. The caramel skin was lighter now from lack of sun. Her dark curls had been cut roughly to her shoulders and were currently greasy from sweat. Her cheekbones stood out now and all youthful plumpness was gone.

“I don’t want to push her, bull I’ll need her to talk, Ma’am.”

Ramirez sighed, “Good luck with that. She can’t speak.”

Steve jerked his head towards the nurse, startled, “What?”

She raised her eyebrows, “You didn’t know? Wasn’t it in her file.”

Steve tried to ignore the guilt he felt. He had only skimmed it, seeing as he had several to look at, “So she can't talk? At all?”

“According to her medical history, she was born with a condition that causes a person's vocal cords to inflamate. It would be extremely painful for her to speak,” Ramirez frowned, “You don’t think that’s why the agent assigned to her didn’t bring her us when he found her, do you?”

Steve frowned too. He didn’t know a lot about Agent Marcus. He remembered him saying that he wanted to take the opportunity to catch HYDRA agents, though Steve hadn’t known why “Agents were told to either bring the enhance civilians here if they were fit for initiations or to put them through protective services. I don’t know why Agent Marcus didn’t follow procedure but instead used her as bait-”

“Marcus!” Ramirez hissed and spat something in Spanish, “That chauvinistic, ableistic, pig!”

“Uh, ‘suce me?”

She let out a huff, “I’m sorry, Captain Rogers, but I don’t have a high opinion about that man; most of the nurses don’t.”

“Is there a problem between you and Agent Marcus?” Steve asked.

Ramirez froze, her eyes shifting about the room, “It’s nothing.”

“Ma’am, if he is harassing you, please-”

“Look, I have three kids at home,” she interrupted him, “I can’t afford to lose this job, so please don’t ask, Captain.”

Steve knew there must be something but there was no point in pushing her. He instead decided to steer to subject back, “Alright. Anyways, will there be a way to communicate with her when she wakes up?”

Ramirez nodded, “Most likely, she’ll know sign language. I know some so I can help translate but you can rely on pen and paper. If you don’t mind, Captain Rogers, I need to check on my patient.”

“Wait,” Steve asked.

She stopped.

Embarrassed that he forgot such a crucial detail from the girl’s file, he asked, “What is her name?”

“Elaine Walker.”

 

The next day, Steve went back to the vet to pick the cat. He was a tripod and high as a kite. The veterinarian said he needed to give the cat painkillers twice a day and to keep an eye on him for at least a month. The vet also gave the cat his vaccinations and got rid of all the flees- therefore, Tony had no reason to complain. Steve thanked the vet and paid for the bill before heading back to the tower.

Bucky had just finished his work out routine and was heading to the showers when he did a double take when he saw Steve holding a three-legged cat.

“Dude, I stole your towel once and you replace me?”

Steve rolled his eyes, “Relax, Buck, I’m just taking care of him till I find the owner.”

Bucky smirked, “Honestly, I always pegged you as a dog person; even though Mr. Jackson’s German shepherd nearly tore you leg off.”

“Shut up,” Steve set the large cat on the couch and watched as it tried to balance itself only to topple over.

“Damn, did he just lose it?”

Steve nodded, “Remember the failed rescue mission in Brooklyn a few months ago.”

Bucky nodded.

“Well, that’s the owner. This little guy must’ve gotten shot by a stray bullet.”

“That sucks,” Bucky reached for the cat who, after sniffing his human hand, nudged it’s head into it, eager to be petted.

“I knew it!”

Bucky and Steve jumped at the booming voice of Tony who pointed at the cat, “I knew I would see that damn fuzz ball again. God, Steve, did you actually steal that fucking cat?”

“Calm down, Stark. The owner is one of the kidnapped victims and- wait, did you really accuse me of theft??

Tony ignored his retort, “Listen here, Capsicle, God knows when or if it’s owner will ever come back. Why don’t you just drop it off at the local SPCA?”

Steve gritted his teeth, “I’ll tell you once you give me the name of who lives at the address.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “I don’t know...Ellie Walken?... Emma Watson-okay, no that’s not right. Just give me a sec,” he pulled out his phone and typed away, “Ah, here it is; Elaine Walker.”

Steve practically smacked himself in the face.

Bucky looked at him, “What? Is she dead?”

“Nope, she’s the one in the medical bay; never seen the stars so fucking aligned before.”

Tony groaned, “Does that meet we have to keep that damn thing?”

Steve and Bucky looked at him like he had three heads, “No, we’re going to wake her up and serve him to her as a cheeseburger. Of course, we’re keeping it. God, did you want us to really throw him on the street?”

Tony threw up his arms, “Yes! That thing is going to cause nothing but trouble. Besides, she can always get a new one. Why would she want a three legged cat?”

“Jeez, thanks, Stark,” Bucky muttered.

Tony pointed at Bucky, “This is not the same thing. You are a sentient human being and one of our best agents; the only thing this evil fuzzy puff can accomplish is spitting up hairballs and breaking shit.”

“Tony, I went to her place. He is all she has left. I’ll keep an eye on him till she wakes up. I’ll make sure he stays in my room and clean up after him.”

Tony seemed to be chewing over the idea, “Fine, but if that little shit breaks any of my stuff, it’s coming out of your paycheck, Rogers,” he stormed out of the room.

Bucky looked at Steve with a half smile, “Well, who knew Tony hated cats so much.”


	5. Details from Banner

 

Because Steve missed working out with Bucky due to picking up the cat, Natasha agreed to spar with him for a while. Sam was there too, but only laughed when he asked.

“No way, man. You already cut me down a peg with running. I need to retain some of my pride, dude. Not all of us can be enhanced beefcakes.”

Enhanced or otherwise, that didn’t stop Natasha from kicking his ass a few times. What she lacked in strength was well made up for in speed and flexibility.  Steve found himself flat on the matt more times than he cared to admit.

“Damn, Rogers. Are you still moping like an emo teen? You’re really out of it,” Natasha snickered.

“No,” he wheezed, getting off of the mat, “I’m just no match for the infamous and beautiful Black Widow.”

She let out a dignified snort, “Flattering won’t get you anywhere. Though, I think that’s enough for today.”

They both exited the sparring ring and headed back to their rooms. They made friendly chatter in the elevator.

“Hey, Steve.”

“Yeah.”

“You doing better? I thought you were going to hurt some poor soul when you left the bar the other day.”

Steve sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Nat’s eye was too good sometimes, “I don’t know. Everyone's saying I need to take a break from the mission, but I can’t stop thinking about those kids. I’m trying to distract myself but I’m failing miserably.”

“What? Taking care of a kitty not enough for you?” she half smiled.

Steve rolled his eyes, “Bucky?”

Natasha shook her head, “Tony has been passive aggressive- well more than usual- all day.”

Steve winced, “Yeah, it’s a complicated situation. It actually belongs to the girl we saved.”

“Wow, what a fucking coincidence.”

“‘Tell me about it,” Steve agreed.

 

Natasha and Steve split when they reached their rooms. All he wanted to do was take a quick shower to soothe his aching muscles when he heard a crash and Bucky yelling.

“Damn it, fuzzball, stay still!”

Bucky and Steve shared a room because of the nightmares Bucky had when he first joined the Avengers. He was always over anyways and he seemed to have a calming effect on his childhood friend. Therefore, Steve let him move into the spare room he had.

Steve could see his friend chasing after the three-legged creature with glass shards, probably from a cup, behind them.

“You need help?” Steve offered.

Bucky growled at the cat slipped from his fingers once again like an eel, “No, I have everything completely under control.”

“What are you even doing?”

Bucky grabbed for the cat again but it crawled underneath the couch, “I’m trying to give it it’s medicine.”

“Did you try mixing it with its food?”

Bucky got on his knees and pawed under the couch, “That’s the first thing I tried, but the little bugger ate around the pill.”

Steve leaned down to block the cat’s escape path, “Dude, I could’ve done this. I found him. He’s my responsibility.”

“And miss out on this fun?” Bucky caught the cat with his metal arm, “Gotcha little buddy. Nah, I wasn’t doing anything and I saw the note you left for yourself.”

As Bucky struggled to get the pill in the cat’s mouth, Steve went over to clean up the remnants of the glass. During which, FRIDAY asked for him.

“Captain Rogers, Dr. Banner wishes to speak to you in his lab about the deciphered data.”

“Thanks, tell him I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.

Steve quickly jumped in the shower and got dressed before heading up to Bruce’s lab. It was almost polar opposite to Tony’s, who would be blasting rock and roll and had scattered projects everywhere. Bruce’s lab was a lot more organized and, if he were to listen to music, it would consist of classical piano. Today, there was no music but quite a lot of holograms up. Steve was clueless about the technology created by both scientists so he always felt uncomfortable in either labs.

“Dr. Banner, were you able to pull anything for the data.”

Bruce looked tired, his graying hair was a mess and there were dark circles under his eye, “Yes, but you’re not going to like it. I imagine you would like me to give you a simple description instead of going over the science.”

Steve gave a half-hearted laugh, “Banner, that may be for the best. This old man can’t keep up with you and Stark.”

Bruce briefly smiled before looking at his notes, “The majority of the data consisted with experimentation of blood from the enhanced and how it affected to certain serums HYDRA has created over the years. There’s even research done on bone marrow. They also have extensive research in cloning and copying cells.”

Steve frowned, “What’s their objective?”

“My guess, and don’t quote me on this just yet, is that they are trying to find out what caused enhancements to begin with and clone the effects.”

“Wait, is that even possible?”

Bruce shrugged, “Not that I’m aware of. I don’t even know if enhancements are genetics. This must be a new angle for HYDRA.”

Steve folded his arms, “That doesn’t explain by their kidnapping kids.”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Steve blinked, “Uh, no.”

Bruce grimaced, “Because you have morals, Steve. You just wouldn’t understand what would motivate someone to hurt children. HYDRA kidnapped them hoping their experiments would work and they’d have obedient, enhanced soldiers. It’s easier to brainwash a kid than it is for an adult.”

Steve clenched his fist, trying not to break anything in Bruce’s lab, “So you’re saying they’ll try to get more?”

Bruce nodded.

“Dammit,” Steve growled, “Tell me there was a location in all that data.”

“Nat was able to find; one in Montana, Quebec, and at the border of Mexico. I can’t promise that their still active but there is are missions lined up in the next few days. I’m not sure if you’ve been given the memo yet but you’ll be going to Quebec with Sargent Barnes and Natasha.”

Steve filed away that information, “Anything else I’ll need to know for the debriefing?”

“No, I pretty much covered everything. Here’s my notes in case you need them,” Bruce hands him a vanilla folder.

“Alright, take care.”

 

Steve spent the rest of the day reading and watching over the cat. Personally, he didn’t watch as much tv as the rest of the Avengers. What could he say: you can take a man out of the 40’s but you can’t take the 40’s out of the man.

He looked up from his book once in a while to check on the cat who kept falling on its face when it tried to walk. Eventually, it gave up and jumped on the couch crawling into Steve’s lap. He casually petted the large cat and listened to its purr.

He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep till FRIDAY called for him and he jolted awake.

“Captain Rogers?”

“Here,” he rubbed his eyes.

“I was told to inform you that Miss Walker is now awake.”

 


	6. Agent Marcus's mistake

****

Elaine woke up to the sounds of beeping and the smell of a sanitized room. She knew she had to be back in that room strapped down with an IV in her arm, which they were. The room did look different; for one, the door was glass instead of steel. She figured they must have switched locations after the attack.

_Oh God! Why do you have to be so cruel? I was happy. I almost died._

Elaine realized that there was no one in the room and that her shock collar had been removed. Maybe she could get out. She struggled against the restraints until a nurse came into the room.

_Oh no. She’s gonna hurt me. I’m gonna be punished...no...not that again._

She struggled harder to get away from the nurse. Her control slipped and the temperature dropped. Frost began to form over everything within seconds. She could see the nurse shivering and puffing clouds of fog in the air.

“M-Ms. Walker. Y-you don’t have to be afraid; I-I’m not going to hurt you.”

Elaine stopped her struggle for a moment

_English? They don’t speak English._

It was definitely English, even though there was a hint of an accent. She thought it was Spanish.

“M-M-Ms. Walker. You a-are safe. You are in the A-Avengers Tower in New York City.”

_I’m...I’m free? I’m really free...no, this has to be a trap._

Elaine looked around the room for evidence and indeed there was an A engraved in the glass door. She also noticed she’d been patched up. There was a tube pushing oxygen into her lungs and when she sat up a little, she saw her left leg was in a cast of some kind.

The nurse stepped forward slowly, like approaching a wounded animal, “Which hand is your dominant.”

Elaine shook her right arm.

“I’m going to undo your right strap so you can talk to me, okay?”

Elaine nodded and watched the nurse untie the leather strap. Her first instinct was to fight her way out of this building, but something stopped her. This nurse knew she talked with her hands, but did she know ASL?

**Can you understand me?**

“Y-Yes Ms. Walker, I can. Now if you have any questions I-”

Elaine burst into tears. She had never been so happy. Someone finally understood her; after months of getting nothing but screamed at in a foreign language if she tried, Elaine could finally talk.

**Oh my God, you understand me! You actually do. It’s been so long since I could talk to another human being. Who are you? Why am I here? Who saved me? Where-**

“H-Hold on M-Ms. Walker. Sign s-s-slowly.”

Elaine blinked and saw the nurse was freezing and the room was almost blue with ice and snow.

_No. No. I lost control again. They're gonna hurt her. They're gonna hurt me. Gotta get away. Gotta get away. Gotta get away. Gottagetawaygottagetawaygottagetaway…_

Elaine frantically undid her straps and removed the oxygen tube and the IV. Blood trickled down her arm as she ran out of the room. As she did, the nurse tried to grab her hand, resulting in her own turning purple before she let go screaming. She heard the nurse calling for her, “M-Ms. Walker! Wait, everything's okay!”

_Everything was not okay. I could’ve killed her. Stupid, pull it together!_

Tears streamed down her face as she rounded the corner and saw agents. She knew if they touched her at her current state, they could get frostbite or worse. Therefore, she limped in the other direction as quickly as she could. She fell and had resorted to crawling. Elaine heard the agents calling to her as she wiped the streams of tears from her eyes. Agents were coming down the other end of the wall. One was the red-haired woman from before.

 **Don’t touch me!**  She signed in distress, **Don’t touch me! You’ll get hurt! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Just don’t touch me!**

There was a crowded forming now and in it, Elaine recognized Agent Marcus, who stepped forward, “Now, Ms. Walker, you need to calm yourself. I know you’ve been through a lot but-”

He was reaching for her. Elaine felt she had no choice. She flung her arms in front of her in an arch. In that arch, ice crystallized in the air around her into a ball. She hardened it until she was satisfied no one could break it.

 

****

When Steve got to the medical bay, it was a mess. There were snow and ice everywhere. Ramirez had doubled over clutching her hand, which was the color of red grapes. Steve rushed over to her.

“I-I’m fine. Go find Ms. Walker, but don’t touch her.”

“Ma’am, you’ve got to get this treated-” Steve started.

“I’m the nurse. I can treat myself,” she hissed, “The poor girl was just scared out of her mind. She has no control over her powers right now.”

“How do I find her?”

Rameriz nudged her head towards a path of ice, “I’m sure she went that way. Just follow the trail.”

Steve followed the trail to where the ice was thickest. At the end of the trail, he saw a group of agents gathers around a huge sphere of ice. It looked like they had one of Tony’s drills and were trying to break into it but the harder they tried, the more the ice seemed to grow. By the time Steve was in earshot of everyone, the ice had crystallized most of the floor and wall as well as slowly crawling around the high ceiling.

He heard the drill's engine starting to cough and screech“What the hell?! It’s broken!”

“What do you mean it’s broken?! It’s just ice.”

“Well, it’s as thick as concrete.”

“For the last time, everyone needs to leave,” Steve recognized Natasha’s voice barking orders, “How many times do I have to say; if you just let the poor girl calm down.”

“Agent Romanoff, we need to remove her. She has already hurt one of our people.”

“She’s been trying to warn us that she was unstable this whole time.”

“I didn’t see any warning. She didn’t say anything.”

“Yes, she did!” Natasha’s voice was cold, “I don’t know if she’s deaf or something, but she was definitely using sign language.”

“And you know sign language?"

“I know more languages than you can count,” Nat sounded so pissed at this point, “And I know she said that if someone touched her right now, they’d get hurt.”

“That sounds like a threat,” Steve could see it was Marcus who was speaking now, “So she’s threating us now.”

“NO, she can’t control what’s happening.”

Marcus rolled his eyes, “Still sounds like she’s a danger to us.”

“If she’s a danger to anyone, I’d say it’d be you, Marcus. Seeing as your the reason she’s in this mess,” Steve stepped in at that moment.

Marcus’s mustache twitched and his face paled, “Captain? I’m afraid I don’t know what you were insinuating.”

Steve just stared at the smaller man, letting the unsettling silence grow around the agent’s conscience. He broke, “She wouldn’t have been any help. I mean, look at this mess. She’s untamed."

Steve looked at the sphere, placing his thumb and index finger to his chin as though he was thinking, “Well, if this is untamed, I’d love to see what she could do, controlled. Also, Ms. Walker just woke up after months of torture. I feel it’s safe to give her some leeway.”

Marcus had sweat developing on his brow even in the frigid temperature, “You won’t have been able to communicate as a team with someone like her.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, “Someone like her?” Marcus paled further. Steve was going to make him say it, “because you never indicated in your report that there was anything different about her besides the obvious,” Steve had checked the file twice now; it wasn’t that he forgot, it was that it was never there.

“Fine,” Marcus growled, “She’s a fucking mute. You can’t possibly bring someone with a handicap into this line of work.”

“Am I back in the 40s or did you forget about modern technology allowing for accommodation. And besides..”Steve got up close with Marcus and spoke in a low but iron voice, “..that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have been put into protective custody as was protocol, but you didn’t. You instead risked her life.”

“We were going to take the risk with one of them anyway. My team had already decided,” Marcus stood his grounds, “Might as well be the one who's incomplete.”

Steve’s eyes flared, “Get out.”

Marcus’s eyes were as wide as saucers before he scurried away. Natasha grabbed Steve's arm before he changed his mind and slugged the pathetic weasel.

“Everyone, get back to work,” Natasha commanded, “This area is to be blocked off until further notice.”

As the other agents retreated back into there offices, Steve took a seat on the floor about ten feet from the sphere. Natasha gave him a look, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to sit and wait for her to calm down. Can’t really leave her to wander around on a broken leg.”

Natasha nodded and agreed before crossing her legs next to him, “Well, you’ll need a translator.”

 

About ten minutes later, there was a noticeable difference in the air temperature. Even though Steve wouldn’t admit it, he had been freezing. Gradually it became warm again and the ice began to thaw. Eventually, the sphere becomes to crack and the girl’s small body crawled out of it like a butterfly from a cocoon. She crawls away from the ice and starts signing.

“What is she saying?”

“She is asking if the nurse and the boy were alright.”

Steve blinked. He wasn’t surprised by her asking about Ramirez but not about the kid, “Yeah, they're both alright. The boy's with his parents and the nurse is being treated. You don’t have to worry about them.”

The girl, Elaine seemed to relax at this, to the point where she almost collapsed. Steve’s instincts were to go and help her up, but he knew it could still be dangerous. She started signing again, this time crying.

“No, no, none of this is your fault,” Natasha crawled a little closer, “You’ve been through so much.”

Elaine signed more through her tears. Natasha went over to the girl and whispered something Steve couldn’t hear. Elaine started to cry louder and threw her arms around Natasha. Steve tensed before realizing Natasha wasn’t harmed but instead, hugging Elaine back.

“I know, I know. Shh, It’s okay, sweetie.”

Steve hadn’t seen Natasha act this way except around Bruce when he went all code green. It took a few minutes for the cries to turn to sniffles. Then Elaine signed and Natasha nodded. She helped the girl up, with a hiss of pain as Elaine got on her damaged leg.

Natasha stepped back. Steve leaned in, “What did you say to her?”

Natasha smiled warmly, “That’s for us girls to know.”

Steve sighed, “Okay, but can you tell me what’s she doing?”

“She said she wanted to clean up her mess.”

 


	7. Second chance to welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaine wakes up for the second time. Goes a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapters. I swear things will start to pick up soon. I know this is a really slow being but please bear with me yall.  
> Also, let me know if yall want frequent but short chapters or longer ones but have to wait a while. Give me an idea on what yall like. Thanks!

****

Elaine knew she had messed up, but at this moment she felt resolve to fixed everything. She had lost everything that mattered to her; her job, her apartment, her cat, her dignity, and she felt she lost her independents. 

She had no family as her parents had abandoned her at a young age, forcing her through the ruthless foster system. She never had a close relationship with any of those she stayed with, as most got sick of her after a month or two of silence. She wished now that she had been involved in Brooklyn’s deaf community so she could’ve had a friend to turn to in this situation. However, she had always put it off, fearing her own insecurities of rejection. She was alone. Elaine knew once she recovered, she’d be thrown out.  Like Marcus had said; who wanted to work with the handicapped. 

The red-haired woman had come up to her saying, “You really think we’re going to kick you to the curb? Sorry, sweetie, but that’s not how we work around here.”

Elaine couldn’t put her finger on why those were the words that broke her. Maybe after so long of having no other human being act as though they care, she let herself hold onto a false spark of hope. Even before HYDRA had kidnapped her, no one had truly cared about her; not her boss or coworkers, not the kids who visited the library, not the volunteers at the blood drive, not any of her foster parents, not Agent Marcus. She could think of more but in truth, she couldn’t really talk to anyone else. No one knew ASL or want to read what she said. It was a lonely life; and now, here is someone who understands her and who doesn’t want to get Elaine out of her hair at the first opportunity.

Elaine raised her hands to the second position of ballet like she was a composer. Over the years, she had discovered that her powers react best to graceful moments Sure she could do fast and quick work like she had tried to get away from the HYDRA agents but wasn’t as efficient. She wanted to do her best to clean up her mess here. It would be hard considering her damaged leg but she could just stay more still.

**** 

For someone who was badly injured, Elaine moved with quite a bit of elegance. It looked like she was composing a slow song as the ice reversed to snow and follow the patterns she made with her hands. Her hips even swayed as if to music. It looked like the snow was beginning swirl and dissolve in the air, though Steve didn’t know the linguistics of her powers.

It only took about five minutes for all that ice and snow to completely vanish. There weren’t even wet spots on the walls or ceiling. In the end, though, he looked as she collapsed from exhaustion. Steve and Natasha went over and saw she was out cold. They decided to take her to one of the extra rooms since the medical bay wasn’t an option at the present moment.

“The janitor is going lose it when he sees it,” Natasha half-joked, “Do you think she’ll need to be hooked up in those machines again.”

Steve shook his bed, “Not as long as she doesn’t stay asleep, but, hey, what do I know about medicine? Let’s ask her nurse.”

 

Ramirez had her hand bandaged up but she seemed alright. She recommended that Elaine woke up in a non sterilized environment like the medical bay seeing as that was a trigger. She said Elaine didn’t need to be hooked up to the oxygen or IV as look as she came to see the nurse when she woke up. Ramirez promised to look after her as they were to head to Quebec in a few days. 

 

****

The next time Elaine woke up, she wasn’t in the stark white room with beeping machines and an IV in her arm. She was in a real bed. 

_ When was the last time I could say that? _

Yes, it was real. It had a simple grey comforter and feather pillow. To be honest, she was pretty comfy and didn’t really want to move, but she once again had no idea where she was. Elaine rolled out of the bed and winced when she stood on her hurt leg.

She looked around the room and saw a bed stand with a lamp and a pair of drawers. She saw that there were clothes inside the drawers so she swapped her hospital gown for a pair of jeans and an oversized t-shirt. The door looked like it was unlocked but she still felt it before opening it. When it swung open she saw a room not must different from her old apartment. There was a room with a couch, coffee table, and tv with another door leading to what she assumed was the bathroom. 

There was no kitchen though. Elaine thought there had to be on somewhere. 

_ Maybe it’s like a dorm in college where everyone shares one. _

Her stomach ached and rumbled. She needed food. Elaine couldn’t remember the last time she ate. She saw the main door and went to open it. However, it was locked. She started to slightly panic.

“Good morning, Miss Walker.”

She jumped at the sound of the voice. She looked around but couldn’t find it’s source.

“I hope I haven’t frightened you. I am known as FRIDAY, I am a natural language artificial intelligence network.”

Elaine still was aimlessly wandering the room like a lost puppy looking for the feminine voice.

_ That’s a computer? No way. It sounds too human and...Irish? _

“I have been told of your circumstance was informed to direct you through your new communication device which should be located on the coffee table.”

She looked and saw what looked like an iPhone but when she picked it up, she saw no apple on its back.

“It will work very similarity to a cell phone except instead of those useless apps that are on other devices, this one has a modified type-to-speak app by Mr. Stark. I have been programmed to know the location of the device and to recognize it’s voice ask your own. You are welcome to try it.”

Elaine saw an app with a microphone and presumes it to be it. It seemed simple enough. There was a female voice with an English accent who spoke for her. It sounded not as sophisticated as FRIDAY but not nearly as bad as Stephen Hawking's voice box; in a sense, it sounded like a British Siri.

-For an AI, you seem very opinionated.-

“Mr. Stark modified me to have a distinct personality. Now is there anything you’d like my help for.?”

-I’d like to be able to leave the room.-

“I’m afraid I cannot do that, Miss Walker. You’re not to leave this room without an escort. Would like to see if Miss Ramirez may assist you?”

-Who’s Ms. Ramirez?-

“She is the nurse on duty today.”

-Okay. Yes then-

Five minutes there was a knock on the door and the plump, little nurse from the other day was there. Elaine abruptly got to her feet and started signing.

**Oh my God, are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you-**

The nurse waved her off with a smile, “Relax, Ms. Walker. I am fine. It should heal in a couple of days. If you haven’t noticed yet, the technology in the building is quite advanced, including medical.”

She winced at the sight of the bandaged. Elaine knew she was partly lying. The nurse may not have hold on long but she knew it would take a long time to heal.

“FRIDAY told me you’d like to leave the room, Ms. Walker. I’m assuming you’re hungry. You haven’t eaten since you’ve been here.”

Before Elaine could answer, her stomach growled angrily, making the nurse laugh, “I’ll take that as a yes. Follow me, Ms. Walker.”

**You can just call me Elaine. I don’t mind.**

The nurse smiled, “Alright, Elaine. You can call me Ramirez. Nothing personal but I haven’t gone by my first name since I was a kid. Even I late husband called me that.”

Elaine placed her new phone in her back pocket before following Ramirez. She led her to a room with an open kitchen and living room with a tv and PlayStation. At the moment Elaine didn’t care about the games as her stomach growled angrily again.

“Do you know how to cook?” Ramirez asked.

**The basics. If there’s eggs and bacon, I can whip something up for up.**

“Chica, I’m not going to make you cook on your first day awake. I was just asking for future reference,” Ramirez swatted Elaine’s hand away from the frying pans, “You just sit tight. How do you like your eggs?”

**Scrambled is fine.**

As Ramirez was frying the eggs, a short man with a goatee strolled in. She greeted him with a friendly hello, “Morning, Mr. Stark. How are you this morning?”

The man winced as he poured himself a cup of coffee, “Ow, jeez, Ramirez. Not so loud.”

Ramirez rolled her eyes, “That’s just another way of saying you’re hungover again, isn’t?”

The man took a sip of his coffee, choosing to remain silent.

“You need to start taking been care of yourself. You’re not a young as you used to be. Mr. Stark, why do you refuse to listen to me?”

“First off,” the man lowered his mug, “I absolutely listen to your expertise, I just choose to ignore it. And second: I’m sorry, are you accusing me of being old?”

Ramirez scuffed and returned to her cooking, “You’re impossible.”

The man turned to Elaine, “She loves me.”

“Keep dreaming!”

Elaine had to chew on her cheeks to keep from smiling. The man didn’t hide his, “So you’re the new girl. It’s about time we had another girl on the team. It’s a bit of a sausage fest with the others.”

Elaine waved her hands and shook her head before remembering to type

-No, No. I’m not. You wouldn’t want me on any team. I’m only here for...why am I here?-

“Right now,” Ramirez intervened, “You’re here to recover. Anything else can wait.”

“Aw, Ramirez, you’re no fun,” the man turned back to you and gestured at your phone, “Is it giving you any trouble?”

-No, Mr. Stark. Thank you, by the way-

“Tony, please, and it’s nothing. It was just something I was asked to whip up last night. Now, don’t go around advertising my kindness and generosity. I have a reputation to uphold, kid.”

Elaine tried not to gawk. She knew he was a tech wiz, but she thought something like this would’ve taken longer to make. Ramirez turned around and passed a plate to her. Elaine didn’t wait a second before diving in. It felt so good to had a hot meal in her stomach again. Before Ramirez could put a go dent in her eggs, Elaine had finished. 

**Wow, Ramirez, that was the best thing I’ve eaten in so long.**

Ramirez grinned, “It’s nothing, chica. You still hungry?”

She lowered her head, a little embarrassed. She didn’t like pigging out in front of people.

“Go on,” Tony urged you, “You can stand to have some meat on your bones.”

 


	8. Our night and it's proof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky...One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me." - Ellie Wiesel "Night"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this may be a tougher chapter to get through as it deals with darker topics. Talk of rape, suicide, and mass murder.

 

Elaine ate as much as she could stand before retreating back to her room for a hot shower. She had been self-conscious of the fact that she had been walking around without bathing for a couple months.

The hot water felt so nice on her sore muscles. There had been bottles of soap under the sink when Elaine had looked. The shampoo smells of lavender. She used a bar of soap to scrub off all the dirt and blood that had built up on her skin. It stung some as it entered some of her open wounds and scratches.

Elaine stayed in the shower till the water turned cold and her fingers were prune tipped. When she stepped out of the shower, Elaine was shocked at her appearance in the mirror. 

Ironically, the best way to describe how she felt was from Elie Wiesel's  Night : a book about a survivor of the Holocaust. She remembered the last line giving her chills: _ “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me.”  _

This is how Elaine felt looking in the mirror. She felt hideous at the sight of her protruding hip bone and ribs. She had never been supermodel skinny before and just like most girls, she had been envious of the magazine covers. Now, she couldn’t understand why. She didn’t care about thigh gaps or visible collarbones anymore. Elaine would give anything to have that weight back. 

She was covered in scratches and bruised but she knew they’d heal. Some had already and had become scars littering up and down her body. There was a huge one on her right hip from the unknown surgery. She traced the outline of the pale tissue along her pelvis bone. When she turned around, Elaine saw angry raw lines all along her back from the whipping. There was a long one on her left arm from a knife too and, though it was still bandaged up, Elaine knew she’d get a beauty on her left shoulder.

She had known her hair had been cut but she hadn’t seen how horrific it was. Though Elaine would've never admitted it, she had loved her head of dark curls that had rolled down her back. Even though they had been unruly, they had almost been like a security blanket. Now it was choppy and uneven. Some strands were to her shoulder others were almost to her ears. 

Her face had the most changes. For one, it was a lot thinner and her cheekbones were more promise. There was a bruise on her cheek and forehead. Her lower lip was chapped and busted. Her hazel eyes looked gaunt to her, wide and glazed over. Elaine wondered if that look would never leave her just like Wiesel's hadn’t. 

Part of her wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t allow herself. Elaine knew she fucking looked like a victim, but she didn’t want to play the part. She was a tough girl. She didn’t take pity. Her parents hadn’t given a shit about her and she had been tossed around in the foster system. She could deal with intense emotional pain. This wasn’t her first picnic. She had slipped a bit the other day after losing her footing but Elaine refused to let the person she was, dwindled away in self-pity. 

She tore her eyes away from the mirror, forcing herself to think of something else. She threw on a fresh pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that was two sizes too big for her small body and walked into the main room. In full honestly, she had no idea what to do now so she just channel suffered until Ramirez told her she needed to check on wounds and talk to her about something important.

She was guided to the medical bay by another agent, where she was relieved to see it was back to its proper condition. Ramirez was placing a white sheet over a table and smiled when she saw Elaine.

“Ah, Elaine. Do you feel better now that you freshened up?”

She nodded. Ramirez beckoned her to sit on the table, “I’m just going to do a simple check up first. You know, your blood pressure, your breathing, your heart. Etc.”

Ramirez placed a stethoscope in her ears and asked Elaine to breathe in deeply when she placed it on her back. She did but noted that it hurt slightly.

“Si, that is from your damaged rips. They should heal nicely in a few weeks.

The rest of the exam went smoothly. Elaine wasn’t sure how to feel about a stranger prodding and poking at her body but she knew the necessity. Ramirez wrote some notes down, explaining everything to her. She was being very understanding to the person who severely damaged her hand.

“All in the past,” Ramirez kept saying as she replaced the bandage on her shoulder, “Now that all that is out of the way. I’m afraid I need to talk serious for a moment,” her eyes saddened and spoke in a gentle tone, “I have the understanding that you were forced to have intercourse when you were captive. I am well aware of the severity of this. If you are uncomfortable with me, I can always see that another nurse can go through the examination. Also, I want you to know that anything you tell me will only go up the chain of command and not out.”

Elaine bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to do this; all she wanted to do was forget, maybe with the handy help of Mr. alcohol.  She could still feel their touch like a slicky grease stain on her body that could't be scraped off no matter the clawing. However if she had to talk to someone, Elaine was fine with Ramirez. 

**What examination?**

“It’s too late to do a whole SAEK but I can at least do a full body exam for damage and DNA samples. That will also include your mouth and genitals,” Ramirez paused for a moment, “It will also consist of a blood test.”

Elaine tensed and shuffled a little in her seat.

“I know, you don’t like needles, but I need to check for STDs, hepatitis, herpes, HIV, and other diseases.”

_ Hepatitis...HIV… _

Her life had sucked, true, but her worried in life had always been about bills, food money, and rent. Being in her mid-twenties, Elaine had still been under the delusion of immortality most young adults fee until a few months ago. She never dreamed she could be carrying a terminal or life crippling disease like AIDS.

“Elaine? Are you alright to continue?” Ramirez leaned over, concern written all over her face.

Elaine’s mouth was dry but she swallowed and nodded.

Ramirez got up and pulled out a medical gown, “I’ll step out so you can put this on. Take off your bra and underwear too and leave the front open.”

Elaine just sat there for a moment, feeling resolved to a doomed fate. After wanting to die for so long, she had become content with death. Those feelings had never left and the thought of suicide was still there, but for now, she'd wait to see how things turned out before taking that step.

_ If there’s something, there’s no helpin’ it. _

She got up off the table and stripped down.

 

****

Steve heard a bullet past his ear before he hunkered behind his shield. Bucky was ahead of him, taking out the HYDRA agents. Steve saw him pull a pin on a grenade and throw it. Fire erupted several feet in front of them. Screams filled his ears. 

When the explosion died down, Steve saw the remaining agents had been taken down. He killed away a severed arm and signaled the strike team to continue further. Bucky pulled one of the stumbling agents up and started yelling at him in Russian. The young soldier stuttered an answer and pointed to the left. Bucky them knocked him out.

“He said the prisoners will be on the second floor to the left.”

They headed in that direction with half the strike and medical team. Natasha took the rest as she had to follow through on her own mission. That frustrated Steve some; even though he was considered a leader, he was still kept in the dark about things.

As Steve and Bucky turned the corner, they saw flashes of lights and bangs coming from open cell doors. Steve clubbed the HYDRA agent over the head with a swift swipe of his shield. He saw a man on his knees, blood spilling from bullet holes, with three kids huddled behind him.

The man's eye rolled back in his head and fell forward. Steve grabbed him before he hit the ground and rolled him over. He checked and saw there was a pulse still so he called for a medic. He had a member for the strike team take the kids as he checked the other rooms.

The other rooms weren’t as much of a pleasant sight. They had just been too late. Bucky had seen what had happened and had shot down the remaining HYDRA agents, “You don’t need to see this, Steve.”

But Steve forced himself to stare at the mutilated bodies of the children and two women. It looked like a firing squad had been launched at them. Their bodies had been ripped apart with bullet wholes. One of the women's eyes had been shot out, her mouth hung open in shock. The women were dead but two of the children were still breathing. One leaned against the wall, red eyes puffy as she looked down her stained dress and kept crying, "It hurts. Owie! Owe! Mommy! It hurts. Make it stop. I want my Mommy!" It broke Steve's heart to see the little girl scream like that. Steve called for the medics but he knew she'd not make it. Steve studied the faces of the dead children as white clothes were draped over there bodies. 

Steve went to search the other cells, but Bucky stopped him, “Sorry. I already checked. They're gone.”

In a fit of rage, Steve punched the ruined, stone wall and it toppled over, this little girl's wailing echoing in his head . “Dammit,” he hissed. Static came from his earpiece and he wanted to throw the goddamn thing away. Finally, the signal came through. Natasha informed them that she found what they were looking for.

Steve and Bucky headed back, carrying the remaining unharmed kids. The Quinjet was full of bodies covered in white sheets by the time they departed. Natasha was dragging a struggling, bald man with an old, pinched face.

“What’s this?”

Natasha smirked, “Fellas, this is Dr. Vaganov, the man in charge of experimentation.”

 


	9. Don't leave Sammy alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaine interacts with Ramirez and a social worker while Steve returns from his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish is simple enough that good translate can help.

 

****

Ramirez had taken Elaine to the library earlier and she had fallen in love. While some of it was technical and research base, tons were romance, thriller, mystery, classic, young adult- you name it.

As she was told most of the team were on a mission and the agents were there to work, Elaine mostly kept to herself in the library. She often went through a few books a day. That didn’t mean she was completely alone as she still needed a chaperone until a therapist checked on her and deemed her stable; a stupid but necessary rule.

Most of the time she was with Ramirez, who she had grown to adore. Ramirez had such a sweet personality and always took time to visit Elaine after her shifts. Elaine had learned that she had three children, the older was apparently just entering middle school. She had told her that her husband had died in a car crash the previous year and that all her family was still in Venezuela.

Elaine asked her if she missed Venezuela. Ramirez response was, “Sometimes. I don’t miss living under the control of Chávez though I do miss my familia, When I was a niña, my Abuela taught me all there was to know about herbal remedies and medications. We were poor and I wanted to build a better life for my niños so I studied and was able to get a scholarship to university here America.”

**Did you know any English when you arrived?**

“Some, but not enough to get by,” was her response, “I had to take night classes to practice my Inglés. I also had to learn sign language because my compañera de cuarto was deaf. She later became my closest amiga.”

Ramirez noticed that Elaine loved to read and introduced to Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and even famous brit, Jane Austen. When she first picked up Pride and Prejudice, Ramirez kept badly imitated a victorian brit; apparently, she was a huge fan of anything romantic.

Elaine liked the books well enough. In truth, she was always very bitter about romances as she never had a large pool of options, well, ever. Who wants to date someone they can’t talk to?

Therefore, she stuck to thrillers and mysteries. She used to read horror like Stephen King and Bram Stoker but she needed a break after experiencing her own nightmare; especially since her appointment with the social worker was coming up.

Elaine was a little nervous because she knew she wasn’t sleeping well. She just kept having nightmares that she would be grabbed from her bed and forced back into the system of pain and torture. For the past week, she woke up in a cold sweat and was too scared to go back to sleep. She knew her willingness to live was below the healthy average and Elaine would be lying if she'd say seeking momentary relief from one of the blades in the kitchen hadn't crossed her mind once or twice.

When it came time to speak with the social worker, she kept her thoughts to herself but let slip about her insomnia. All she wanted was her independence back and she wasn't going to spill her guts to a stranger. The social worker merely smiled sweetly, apparently understanding Elaine just fine, “That is perfectly fine and expected. You’ve been through a lot and it’s just your body’s way of taking in the trauma. I recommend you take melatonin to help for now. If your nightmares are still this bad the next time I see you, I may recommend medication. Nothing serious; just something to give your body a boost."

_Giving a bottle of narcotics to the suicidal girl? Great choice, doc._

**Wait, does this mean I didn’t pass?**

The social worker shook her head, “No, dear. I believe you are no threat to anyone at this point. I don’t think it’ll be necessary for you to escorted everywhere. However, I’d still like to see you next week to see if we can do anything for those nightmares.”

 

****

Steve had to keep himself from beating the shit out of Dr. Vaganov as he was counted the pairs of feet of the dead children; so far he counted twelve. He could do the math. He knew there had been more kidnappings that had not been accounted for. He hadn’t been so mad at a doctor since the mission to retrieve Dr. Zola resulted in his best friend falling to his presumed death.

He could see Natasha interrogating him in his native tongue but couldn’t hear anything; not that it would be helpful. He saw Bucky staring at the doctor with intensity. Steve motioned toward Vaganov, “Know him?”

Bucky nodded, “Yeah, at the time he an assistant to Karpov. Can’t be sure when that was but he must’ve risen up the ranks.”

After a few minutes, Natasha stood up and walked towards them, shaking her head disapprovingly, “He won’t talk. We might have to use other techniques.”

“Other techniques?”

“Trust me, Rogers, you don’t want to know.”

Steve scuffed, “Like I care what happens to the likes of him...you don’t torture prisoners, right?”

Natasha laughed, “Hah, you’re too much of a goody two shoes, Golden boy.”

Steve folded his arms, “No, I just have principles,” he could feel his stomach rise as they descended, “Hopefully, Sam and Clint’s team were more successful than us.”

“What are you bitching about, Rogers? We caught the man behind all this,” Natasha pouted, “I count that as a victory.”

She had a point, but all Steve could see at a small pink sneaker in his peripheral vision. After the Quinjet landed, the wounded were rushed to the medical bay and parents were contacted regarding their child, alive or dead, so they could be retrieved. Dr. Vaganov was taken away to a cell as well. The debrief was short and sweet as Sam and Clint’s group hadn’t made it back yet, which made sense considering the distance.

Bucky and Steve headed back to there apartment to see it looked like a hurricane had gone through. Their mouths had dropped open and a cat rammed Steve in the shim, waited to be petted.

“What the hell?” Bucky fussed at the cat as he stared at the toilet paper that had been used to teepee the room, “That door was shut. How did you even open it, you little shit?”

Steve rubbed his eye, not wanting to see the appending mess before him, “And they say cats are easier than dogs. Jesus, did you- hey! That’s not a toy,” hey grabbed the sock the cat was batting at.

Annoyed as hell, Steve and Bucky took turns cleaning up and showering. Bucky glared at Steve as he mopped up cat urine, “You’re giving that thing back to the girl tomorrow.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another short chapter. Some good news though, Steve and Elaine will actually be interacting together in a calm enviroment. I know! It's like nine chapters in. I'm too cruel to my readers and characters.


	10. Informal introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaine and Steve meet finally and can actually talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character and relationship development can finally start. I'll still focus on the plot but character development is key! (To be honest, this is just playful banter, it establish an identity for the characters in a calmer setting.)

****

Elaine didn’t want to admit she was a little excited to get off on her own. Though she really likes Ramirez, she wouldn’t let her anywhere but the lounge and medical bay. She had to beg before being allowed to go to the library. She was the curious type and just had to explore.

As far as she had known, the team was still gone when she went down for breakfast. Elaine woke up early from a nightmare, so she didn’t think she’d see Tony. Imagine her surprises when she walked into the kitchen to find a stranger pouring coffee.

Wait- she recognized him. He was with the red-haired women during her episode. Embarrassed, she hid behind the door.  He must have seen her though.

“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t bite.”

She looked behind the corner and saw the man smiling at her, pouring a second cup and offering it to her. He had dark blonde hair and baby blue eyes that shined cheerfully. She tried not to stare at his broad shoulders and muscular arms.

Slowly, Elaine left the safety of the doorway to join the man. He passed her the mug, ‘Do you need sugar?”

She nodded and smiled a thanks as he passed the shaker. “I’m making eggs. Would you like some?”

She waved her hands in front of her and started signing before realizing he couldn’t understand and pulled out her cell.

\- You don’t have to do that. I can make my own breakfast.-

He looked down at her phone then back to her, “Tony?”

She nodded.

“Nonsense,” he continued as if nothing happened, moving the eggs on the pan, “There’s no need. I can just add a couple more to the batch. No one’s usually awake at this time anyway, so some company would be refreshing. ”

His voice sounded very familiar then it hit her where she had heard it. She could’ve sworn he had been the one that talked down Marcus the other day. She had heard what they both said even through the thick ice. She typed nervously.

-I want to thank you for the other day. Not a lot of people would’ve stood up for someone like me-

He stopped cooking and gave her a look she couldn’t define. Then he gave her a gentle smile, “In that case, you need to hang around different people. Times are changing. Guys like Marcus will dwindle away.”

-You sure are optimistic. Careful, this city will eat you alive and spit you out.-

“Been here for almost a century. Hasn’t yet,” he chuckled, placing a plate in front of her and sat across from her.

Elaine smiled weakly, tapping the counter, -Thanks. I’m guessing you're the Captain.-

“Steve, please,” he offered a hand. She took it and noticed immediately how much bigger it was as his engulfed her own.

-Elaine-

“You adjusting to life in the tower okay?”

Elaine gave a guilty smile, -It’s been alright though I haven’t seen much. I’ve felt like Belle; not allowed to go anywhere but the library. To be honest, I was planning on snooping around, but now that people are back, I can’t get away with it.-

Steve let out a laugh, “I don’t really get that reference, but as long as you don’t stumble and break anything in Tony’s lab, you should have fun with that.”

Elaine quirked an eyebrow, -You haven’t seen Beauty and the Beast? Man, we’ve got to change that; and I mean the original, not the shitty remake. Disney needs to stop trying to fix what isn’t broken-

“And you’re upset about that?” Steve asked playfully.

-I take my nostalgia very seriously-

 

****

Steve was glad to properly meet Elaine and liked her so far. She seemed easy going and had a sense of humor. However, he could see that she had some lasting effects from HYDRA.

Steve could tell Elaine was putting up a front even if she didn’t realize it. Behind her jokes and snark, he saw she was as tightly wound as a spring coil. Her jaw was clenched and her hands were either balled into fists or fidgeting. Her smile never touched her eyes. She sat in a position so she could easily bolt from the room if she needed.

She fidgeted with her fork but kept a lazy smile on her face, - You probably get this a lot but I’ve gotta ask: is all of this weird for you?-    Elaine gestures at her phone and other advanced technologies in the room, -Sorry, I’m not the most creative at small talk.-

Steve took a sip of coffee thinking, “It’s fine. Honestly, it was at first but I’ve had a couple years to get us it but I’m still learning. Every time I meet someone new, I have to add something to the list.”

-I’d think you’d not need that too with the internet, though that’s dangerous. One wrong clip can scar your mind-

“Too late,” he laughed, “I found out the hard way that it could be a, uh, colorful place.”

Elaine waved a hand in front of her, as to brush an unpleasant thought away, -I don’t want to know but I’ve seen it all. I was a librarian at a high school. Do you know how many times I had to chase kids out of the library for using the computers to watch porn and worse?-

Steve’s cheeks brighten at her blunt statement. She propped her chin in her hand and smirked, -I shouldn’t say any more. Wouldn’t want to corrupt America’s Golden Boy.-

As they made friendly chatter while cleaning the dishes, he figured something familiar would ease her mind. He knew he should give back her cat, but wasn’t sure how to tell her so he decided it would be best to just show her. He told her to wait there as he didn’t think she’d want to follow a stranger to their room.

 

****

Elaine had no idea what Steve could have of hers, but she decided to humor him. He didn’t seem like a creep who would be hiding anyone of her things; then again that wouldn’t be possible because one, she doesn’t own anything in the tower and two, as far as she knows, everything she had owed was destroyed in the break-in. Elaine felt she was too paranoid.

After a few minutes, she heard footsteps again and she sat up straight.

“Ow, stay still,” Steve’s voice could be heard from the corner. When he turned, Elaine could see something big and grey squirm out of his grip and plop on the floor. There was a tinkle of a bell from a red band.

Elaine blinked. She couldn’t be seeing what she saw. There was a large, skinny grey tomcat in front of her. It’s right frontal leg was gone, left with a shaved patch and a line of stitches. She stood up from her stool. There was no way he was Sammy.

When he saw her, he bound over to her, falling on his face occasionally before ramming his body into her shin. Slowly, Elaine knelt down and saw the collar did state it was Sammy.

She didn’t cry. She wouldn’t let herself. Elaine simply picked up her cat and clutched him close to her chest like a baby. Sammy let out a whine before settling in her arms. She scratched the scruff of his neck.

“His leg got infected when he was shot. The vet said it had to go.”

Sammy nestled against her chest, purring happily. He didn’t seem to care about his missing leg at all. Elaine looked back up at Steve and saw for a moment the cheery expression vanished. His eyes held a sadness to them and his features looked worn out. It was only a second, but she didn’t miss it.

She sat the cat down for a moment, letting him weave in between her feet while she typed on her phone, - He doesn’t seem to care and as long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters. He’s such a lazy cat, anyway.”

Steve’s weary expression was replaced with a slight smirk, “Lazy, huh? He seemed to had no problem getting in trouble yesterday. My buddy and I came home to find our apartment a mess.”

-You left him alone for a couple of days?-

“Yeah.”

She winced, -Dammit. I’m sorry, Sammy is very needy. He acts up if he doesn’t get attention. Did he break anything? I can pay you back.-

He waved it off, “Nah, forget about it. It’s our fault; should’ve known he’d be anxious. Oh, by the way, you may want to keep him in your room. Tony’s not the biggest fan of cats, and animals...and people, now that I think of it.”

Just then another person stumbles into the room. He was smaller than Steve, but that wasn’t saying much and had dark skin and a friendly face. Steve gave him a nod of acknowledgment, “You think you can keep you today?”

The man rolled his eyes, “One of these days, old man, I’ll go Jesse Owens on your ass. Just you wait.”

“Whatever.”

He poured himself a cup of coffee, “Steve, you going to introduce me to the pretty lady?”

Elaine felt a flush, though he knew the man was just being nice. She was well aware of how gaunt and ragged she looked.

“Sam, this is Elaine Walker. Elaine, Sam Wilson.”

Elaine offered her hand, which Sam dramatically bowed and kissed. She let out an undignified snort. She only laughed when something was at a level of hilarity that it was involuntary. It always hurt too much to carelessly use her vocal cords like a giggling airhead.

She pulled out her phone, -Nice to meet you. You better keep practicing your imitation of Mr. Owens while you still can, buddy. Once I’m out of this boot, I’ll leave both of you ladies eating my dust. But for now, kick his ass.-

Steve feigned offense, “After taking care of your cat, this is how you repay me?”

-What can I say? I’m a sucker for charm.-

“In that case, challenged accepted.”

 


	11. It lit up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaine wants to work for what she's been given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back at school so I may not post as often. Just a heads up.

She brought Sammy back to her room as the two men departed. Steve had said there was a litter box and some cat food in his room that he would drop by later. 

As she went throughout her days, Elaine began to start feeling weird about living in the tower. She didn’t really think of it as home as she knew she’d most likely get kicked out the moment she had healed, regardless of what the red-haired woman had said. Elaine felt she needed to earn her keep for the clothes and food she had acquired. She was an independent woman, after all, she didn’t like taking charity. She told Ramirez that she wanted to help the housekeeping or janitorial staff as payment but Ramirez shut her down.

“You are here as my patient. I don’t care if you’re able to walk around, your body has not recovered enough to perform any strenuous activities.”

**It is too.** Elaine whined  **I’m tired of sitting around. At least let me help clean your tools or sort supplies or-**

Ramirez rolled her eyes before looking at her tablet, where she was putting in the report of Elaine’s last physical exam. She had this conversation several times now, “No, Elaine, you’re not certified to handle any equipment in here and you shouldn’t be carrying anything heavy with that shoulder of your’s.”

**My shoulder’s fine. I don’t even feel it anymore,** that was a straight up lie but Elaine wouldn’t admit defeat.

Ramirez had caught her signs in the corner of her ear and pointed at a large weight in the corner of the room, “Fine. Pick that up then.”

Elaine frowned,  **Why?**

“That’s a fifty-pound weight used for physicals. It’s a requirement in order to pass.  If you can lift it with one hand to your waist with no problem, I’ll write in your report that you are physically able to work again.”

Elaine looked at the weight. She was not even five feet tall and had been a hundred pounds soaking wet prior to the kidnapping. The weight looked a little intimidating seeing as it was almost equivalent to her current weight. 

“Go on,” Ramirez nudged her towards it. Elaine took in a breath and grasped the weight. As soon as she started to pull up, pain shot through her shoulder like electricity. She winced still pulling until the pain became unbearable. She let out a tiny yelp of pain at the last moment before she stood up.

She turned to Ramirez with her head down, disappointed in herself, “It’s alright, chica. You’ll heal in time. Why don’t you try cooking for the team as a show of gratitude?”

Elaine grimaced. Her cooking skills were tolerable at best. When Rameriz had asked her if she could cook, Elaine had meant the real basics. At home, she relied on a lot of can goods and ramen like a college student. She figured she could try to whip something up though. 

_ How hard could it be? _

 

_ Shit. Shit. SHIT! _

Elaine coughed on the smoke coming from the stove. She had misread the instructions and had set the oven on four hundred degrees instead of three fifty. Now her food was on fire. She had gone for the easiest thing in the world to bake; cookies. Still, she managed to screw that up. 

Panicking as there was no fire extinguisher in sight, Elaine slashed her hand across the air leaving a streak of ice growing like crystals in its wake. This resulted in the room filling with steam.

Elaine heard coughing coming from the doorway, “What the hell? Goddamnit, Barton. Again?? What the fuck are you doing in the kitchen?”

Elaine winced before closing a fist and collecting the condensation in the air into a snowball before squeezing in out of existence. She turned to find two women staring at her. One of them was the red-haired woman and the other was a slim brunette with dark eyes. The redhead raised her eyebrows in surprise, “Oh, it’s you. I thought it might be Barton. Burning down the kitchen is something he would do.”

Elaine’s cheeks burned slightly in embarrassment,  **Well, now you have to worry about two pyros now. Pray to God, that this place will last another week with me here.**

The brunette face looked overwhelmed and she spoke with a thick accent Elaine couldn’t place, “What about a fire and god?” 

Elaine winced before pulled out her phone, -Sorry, is this better?-

The redhead answered before her and thumbed back at the brunette, “That won’t be necessary. While Stark means well, that little gadget isn’t doing anything to for you but to be convenient for us; which isn’t fair to you. Fortunately, we ladies are spies, not soldiers so we can adapt to accommodate for a language barrier. Though do go easy for Wanda here. She’s a newbie.

Wanda glared at her, “But I barely know sign.”

“Well, no time like the present to learn. Plus, the best way to learn a language is to submerge yourself in it so stop your whining,” the red-haired woman playfully hip checked Wanda before examining the damage, “Someone was a little jumpy.”

Elaine grimaced,  **Yeah, I panicked because I couldn’t find the fire extinguisher. Sorry, I was trying to make something to repay everyone’s kindness,** she pulled out the tray from the oven to see rows of coal,  **Guess I failed miserably.**

The redhead picked up one of the burnt bits, examining it with a reminiscing smile, “It’s the thought that counts and if I had a dollar for each time one of us nearly burned down this place, I could honestly afford my own personal chef.”

Wanda rolled her eyes, “Nat, please. Half of those are from you and Barton messing around. Do you remember when you tried using Tony’s blow torch for a tiny creme brulee”

“Sorry, not all of us can be Rachel Ray like you and Superbot,” Natasha huffed. Elaine smiled at there friendly banter. Nat and Wanda told her they wanted help clean up.

**No, no. It’s my crap. I’ve got it.**

“Relax. It’ll be quicker with the three of us,” Natasha retorted, “Although...could you do that thing to get rid of that?”

Elaine saw she was pointing at the streak of protruding ice and while a flick and twist of her wrist, the ice swirled into mist and dissolved in the air. Wanda’s eye widened, if it was the first time she’d seem her powers, “I’m not the only one who just thought the ending of Frozen, right?”

Elaine grinned,  **That’s the jist, except I can’t make a stylish wardrobe or create life out of nothing.**

Wanda honestly looked a little disappointed, “So I shouldn’t expect random musical numbers?” you gave her a second for her face to pale. Natasha winced and Wanda covered her dropped jaw, “Oh God. Shit. I just- I didn’t mean it like that-”

Elaine couldn’t help but laugh, the first time she had in months. She couldn’t help it. It was always funny to see people react in this PC world. She didn’t like ablistic comments like Marcus but she also thought the embarrassment of those who slip up to be priceless. It’s the little things you have to laugh at or you’ll always be miserable.  **Forget about it. Really. Though if I could sing, I’d rather be the younger sister. She’s less brooding.**

Wanda looked relieved and Natasha’s grimace vanished into a smirk, “Well, it’s too soon to cast you yet. In all seriousness though, I was sent to actually find you. The team has some questions for you concerning your kidnapping.”

Now it was Elaine’s turn to freak out, but she pushed her feelings down in that dark pit in which her feelings will never see the light of day,  **Alright, let’s clean up this first.**

 


	12. What can you tell?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elaine tells the team what happened to here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
> Sorry for just a long time to update! I do plan to continue this story, just give me time please. Thank you!

After the three of them finished cleaning and put stuff away, Natasha and Wanda led Elaine to the elevator and used their clearance to access a floor Elaine hadn’t been on before. When she had gone exploring, she had found she couldn’t go most places without clearance; that’s what she got for trying to snoop around a SHIELD-like facility.

They went up several floors and exited into a large room with several people sitting and talking. Elaine recognized Tony, Steve, and Sam but there were a lot more who she only had the briefest idea who they were from the news. 

Natasha guided her to a chair, which Elaine quickly sat in before her wobbly legs gave out under her. A small man with graying hair and glasses offered her a kind smile and a cup, “Don’t worry, it’s just tea.”

Elaine returned the smile and a nodded thanks. She quickly surveyed the room, seeing neat stacks of books and papers along with numerous holograms. There was a small plant of a desk with an old-fashioned teapot and burner.

 

**** 

Elaine looked nervous. When Bruce went to offer her tea, she had at first tensed up like she was afraid she was going to be attacked. Now, her eyes were shifting around the room to examine her surroundings while she tapped her unharmed leg and clutched the mug tightly.

Bruce pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. It was decided that he should talk first as he had a way of calming people down; ironic for a man with breathtaking anger management issues. Steve thought it had something to do with his chill demeanor and soft-spoken nature.

“Ms. Walker,” Bruce got her attention as her wide, hazel eyes fixed on his brown ones, “My name is Dr. Banner. I’ve been working with Ms. Ramirez to help you. She has told me a lot about you.”

Elaine gave a weak smile, pulling out her phone, - I hope it was only the good stuff.-

“Of course. She and I want to help you. We were able to find out somethings like the drugs HYDRA used on you but not what happened. Do you think you could tell us what happened to you?”

Elaine looked down, chewing on her lip, -It’s probably nothing you haven’t heard before. Why bother?”

“Ms. Walker, you’re the first we ever brought back alive.”

Steve knew that shouldn’t have been said a second too late. Her face drained of color and, for a split second, her calm composer was gone, -No. That’s not true. It can’t be. There were dozens of us. How can that be?-

Steve knew she was most likely feeling survivors guilt. He could relate; he had felt that way when he was first thawed out to find everyone he knew to be dead.

“Ms. Walker,” Bruce got her attention once again, her pretty eyes watery, “They’re a still several out there that we can save, but we need to know what HYDRA is doing so we can stop them.”

She shook her head, -No. I can’t help you. I don’t even want to think about it.-

“I know it must be hard but I need to know. Would you rather talk to someone else in private?”

She just looked down at her mug. She didn’t type anything and the room was silent for a long while. Steve looked over at Bucky and saw a look of understanding on his face. If anyone could relate to what Elaine went through, it would definitely be him.

It looked like Bruce was getting nowhere and Elaine stubbornly remained silent. Steve didn’t think she understood how important her information could be. Of course, Bruce had a theory but there was no proof to back it up. They needed something solid like a witness testimony.

Eventually, Bucky walked forward and whispered something to Bruce. Bruce sighed before nodding in agreement and Bucky took his seat across from Elaine. Steve didn’t know how this would go. He knew his friend was not a soft as Bruce but maybe that’s what they need right now. 

He started to speak in Russian and her head jerked up, eyes wide. Steve didn’t know if she knew what he was saying but there was a look of comprehension. They seemed to be having a silent conversation with there eyes, like a standoff before she looking away. “You get them too?”

She nodded, - Every night.-

“Good, so you know there’s no escaping it. Bottling it up won’t work, trust me,” Bucky’s eyes never left hers, “Remember the kid?” she nodded, “Well, there’s more of them out there. Do you really want them to go through that shit?”

Elaine’s hands tightened on her mug, -I don’t even know if what I know can help.-

“You’ll never know,” his piercing blue eyes softened, “Please.”

Elaine looked defeated, her hands shaking, -Fine. But I don’t want to type it. It’d make it to real.-

“I can translate,” Natasha went other and squeezed her shoulder gently.

Elaine took a deep breath and started signing. Her small hands moved like water, ever so graceful. Her facial expression changed almost just as quickly.

After a minute Natasha spoke for her, “I woke up in a hospital room. It was dirty and smelled of rust. All the doctors were covered up and I was strapped to a table so I couldn’t fight back. They took my blood most days; a lot of it. I don’t know why. I never learned their language. I only saw the others when we were strapped to the tables together. They did a lot of tests of us and injected tons of multicolor liquids that burned,” Natasha paused for her to catch up, “I only saw kids a few times, they always had IVs in their arms. They started to switch our schedule around to start practicing combat. To be honest, I think they were just using us for punching bags when they had enough people in the lab for the day. It alternated like that for a while, until I got in trouble and they- sweetie, you don’t have to tell us that,” Nat’s face looked distraught which was a rare sight.

Steve saw Elaine angerly wiping tears from her face without looking up. Natasha asked if she could continue and Elaine nodded. 

“This cycle of injections and fighting continued till the day you saved me. They were teaching me how to shoot and wanting me to use the boy as target practice. I refused. If you didn’t come when you had, I’d probably be dead,” Natasha turned to her, “Is that it?” 

Elaine nodded, her eyes were blank and her face drained of emotion, -Can I go now?-

Bucky looked at Steve and Tony. They both had more questions but Natasha gave them a look that said back off. Therefore, she was allowed to leave. Elaine practically ran out of the room in tears. Natasha beckoned to Wanda for them to follow her.

“Uh, where do you two think you’re going?” Tony asked.

“That girl shouldn’t be left by herself right now.”

“I’m sure little Miss Ice queen would rather be alone.”

Natasha glared at him and scuffed, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, yes I do,” Tony folded his arms, “I may not be the charmer Cap is with people but I know that look. It’s the look that says leave me alone is my fortress of solitude.”

Natasha gridded her teeth and Wanda this time stared daggers, her Eastern European accent made her voice sound colder than usual, “Why bother explaining? Most men wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Steve felt something uneasy in his gut that he prayed was wrong. They both turned to leave and Tony called out one more time, “Since when were you an expert at ASL?”

“I’m not. I'm better than you, asshole.”

 

****

Elaine walked away completely drained of everything. She didn’t want to go through that again and she hated that the man had convinced her to talk. Elaine had known he could understand. She had known that the Winter soldier was part of the Avengers but it had only registered when she had seen the same look in his eyes that she had.

She heard foot stepped behind her which made her walk faster. Elaine was afraid they changed their minds and wanted to question her further.

“Walker,” she heard Natasha calling out from behind.

She winced,  _ shit. Maybe if I pretend I didn’t hear… _

Elaine jumped when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder forcing her to stop. Reluctantly, she turned around to face Natasha with Wanda following close behind, “You alright?”

Elaine waited a split second too long before faking a smile,  **Yeah, I’m fine.**

“Bullshit,” Natasha and Wanda both proclaimed.

Elaine grimaced and looked at her feet. She knew they knew but she didn’t want to be treated like a victim for it. She was fine. She could handle it. She-

“How about a girl’s day?”

Elaine blinked and looked at the women quizzically. 

“Nat and I stink of testosterone and need some pampering. Want you join?”

Elaine gave them a look.

“Oh, come on,” Natasha smirked, “Stay cooped up in here long enough and you’ll stink of man sweat and stale coffee too.”

Elaine couldn’t help but crack a weak smile  **I don’t know…**

“Please,” Wanda begged, “You’d be doing us a huge favor. You can pick too. What’ll it be; nails, spa, massages…”

**I don’t want to impose but…** Elaine fiddled with an uneven curl **...they...they took this away from me. If it’s going to be short...I want it to be…**

Natasha smiled, “Your decision?”

You nodded.

Natasha shrugged, “You're a practical woman. Long hair is too much of a hassle. I don’t get how you stand it, Wanda.”

 


	13. ***Author's Note***

Hey guys,

I needed to come out and say it in case readers were curious. I have been on hiatus and will continue for the meantime. I am having a bit of a writer's block for this story. I truly want to finish this but I am currently writing another story weekly that I have a planned out. This was my first AU story and I wasn't smart enough to plan it out. One day, I plan to finish this but for now, just be passionate. I have a life outside of writing: I am a student, an athlete, an artist, and I work three jobs. Thank you for your support but I need a break. I hope you folks will understand. 

Thank you,

KMO27


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